28 comments:

Each of these has been a hard act to follow and yet y'all get better each time. To Ms. Fairley: We're not worthy! Thanks so much helping us understand the profession a bit better.

This brings two things to mind from my own experience. First: Job one for the pros was gaining our confidence. They were so good at their profession, so good at selling their ideas, and so good at relating to us. They put it this way: "The jumping is hard, the falling is easy." Once we jumped, it was fun.

Second Ms. Fairley reminds me of folks who can "remember every golf shot they ever made." If she plays golf, she probably remembers every shot.

Favorite quote."$250K just doesn't go as far as you think it will."

I'm personally touched by Ms. Fairley's comments about avoiding jealousy of wealthy clients. I grew up in a smallish southern community where everybody kind of knew everybody else. We all knew the rich folks and what they did. In general these were the brightest, hardest working, usually the nicest folks in the community. Their money and skills ran the hospital, the Salvation Army, the YMCA, the churches, the school boards et al. They supported talented, hard working folks wherever they came from. And they know who needed help.

I really enjoyed this interview with Tobi. I am from Arkansas as well . I am a designer with a new blog and feel like a sponge.

I could feel the yearning from the three of you when she talked about budgets. I love how honest and direct she is. My goal is to incorporate (maybe in baby steps) her strategy into my presentations. She is eliminating so much frustration that goes with our profession on the front end.

Congratulations on a great interview,Mona Thompson Providence Ltd.http://blog.providenceltddesign.com

Now, I congratulate Ms. Fairley on her success in 11 short years in Interior Design, but this cover photograph was my least favorite of HOUSE BEAUTIFUL'S in a long time. It is a formula room with no soul. It has beautiful things...lovely quality, but everything in this room is new. It cries for anitiquities! It screams for warmth....anyone else feel that way?

Thank you so much for this wonderful interview with Tobi Fairley. Your questions were wonderful and she was so honest with her answers and shared her business savy openly. I really enjoyed the interview and it inspired me to revamp how I approach client presentations.

Great interview. Obviously, Tobi Fairley is extremely well-prepared, educated, charismatic and charming, in addition to talented. A true Southern Lady!! I love the lamps--but wonder if investing in antique chinese porcelain lamps wouldn't be an option. Spitzmuller (sp?) lamps (colors, glazes, shapes and fabrication techniques) all seem to derive from the antique chinese. Just an idea. Thanks for a great hour.

First time commenter, long time listener! . . . what a privilege to hear from a designer of this caliber. Her candid and open nature was refreshing, and I so enjoyed hearing about the process she goes through with her clients.

So happy to hear what Tobi says. We met her in Vancouver last year and I admired her so much that I said I would move and work for free just to be with her in that gorgeous office. She is an inspiration.Thanks girls for the SRT, a great way to learn and be entertained.

What a charming southern talent! I really enjoyed listening! I looked at Tobi's website and the rooms are truly beautiful, but everything seemed to be new, and I couldn't really get a read on any of the homeowners personal lives. I would like to know what the three of you think, should a room be designed to be only beautiful, or to reflect the family living in the home? Do they travel, do they collect, are children in the home, what special pieces have remained with them over time?

That was an amazing interview. I similarly went to business school and decided that design was my passion. It is so nice to hear someone who is doing well and not complaining about circumstances. She is creating the business she wants and nothing is standing in her way. By far, the best interview I have heard from a designer, as well as the most useful.

Having watched Tobi's career growth for many of those years, I can confirm how dynamic and visionary she is...and just plain hard working. Glad to hear the good ideas she's sharing, she's tapped into the design pulse.

Ladies, Thanks to you and your readers for their great comments. I am so humbled by the amazing compliments of me and my work! I love reading ALL the opinions, even the ones that question my design approach. It is so great to question things,as I believe this is when we learn the most. I wanted to give a bit of insight to some of the questions so far. Though I do LOVE using reproductions, I also often use antiques. Sometimes, they are not recognized as much because I give them new life, like a coat of brightly colored lacquer paint and some shiny new hardware. But I do agree it is things like antiques and original artwork that makes a home unique and personal. The home on the cover of House Beautiful has an amazing collection of original artwork from around the globe. My approach there was to let the artwork speak volumes and the design support the art. And believe me, it perfectly represents the clients' personalities!! They are some of the most neat and organized people I know. I am a pretty organized person and they make me look like Pigpen from Charlie Brown!! Isn't it interesting how one person's least favorite is another person's dream?? Thank God for the diversity of talent and opinions in our industry. Keep the comments coming, I love reading them. And thanks again for the opportunity to be on the SRT. It was a true honor! Tobi

Ladies, Thank you for bringing another great interview. I throughly enjoyed hearing about Tobi's design processes. It was so interesting to hear about price points,they are seldom discussed. I would love to be able to consult with a design studio on one aspect of a room; say draperies. So I hope her idea to work with smaller budgets works out. It was also a great plug for getting an education; to back up all of that talent.

Just discovered your podcast and Im so impressed to finally find a great Interior design podcast. Thanks so much for sharing your views and getting some great inspiring people to come and chat with you.

I'm sorry you took Stephen Drucker's bait and are devoting a program to his editorial. I think this is exactly the result he wanted: publicity for his magazine.

His premise--that design has been hit by a wave of meanness--is just trumped up to get people talking.

Internet meanness has nothing to do with design. Every blog, no matter what it focuses on--politics, sports, sexuality, pop culture, celebrities--is going to be full of angry commenters. It's the nature of the Internet, and the nature of the times.

If you must have him on, please challenge him on the premise that this is a DESIGN-specific problem. (And please challenge his claim that meanness in design "started on TV." Huh?)

I have to tell you how much I loved this interview. Tobi was so candid and I feel that I learned a lot and I kind of feel you three did, too. I first bought the House Beautiful issue because of Tobi's cover and am now a subscriber. BTW, I'm a $1,000 sofa gal but I enjoy dreaming and incorporating designer touches as much as I can. It's the inspiration that you share that is so special. Thank you.

This was absolutely fantastic! I had planned on having this interview on in the background while getting some work done, but I became so enthralled in her every word that I just sat here like a sponge soaking it all up!

It's so incredibly enlightening to hear her design process. Lately, I've hit a "slump", I guess you could say. Maybe "burnout" is a better way to put it. But perhaps it's because I'm approaching the process with my clients all wrong. I'm ALLOWING them to micromanage, and frankly, that takes all of the fun out of it for me, to the point that it's almost become drudgery lately to do my work.

I'm going to take this weekend and develop a new plan...a new approach for working with clients based on the information I've learned here. Wow...I'm feeling a renewed excitement! This is great!!

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